After nearly a century, the Myrtle Beach Pavilion is closing, and along with it the amusement park that has been part of the fabric of this oceanside resort for more than 50 years. The carousel dates from 1912, while the park's 2-ton pipe organ was first exhibited at the 1900 World Exposition in Paris.

In the middle of a 60-mile reach of beaches known as the Grand Strand, the Myrtle Beach area attracts an estimated 13 million vacationers a year, and as development in one of South Carolina's fastest-growing areas continues unabated, the beach is slowly changing.

In Miami, on the other side of Kobe Bryant and the out-of-the-playoffs Los Angeles Lakers, Heat star Shaquille O'Neal is king of the court and the fans. The love feast in Miami is in stark contrast to O'Neal's maddeningly divisive but wildly successful three-championship run with the Lakers.